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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

L. W. BRIGGS 8: D. E. BOSWELL.

y PHONOGRAPH.

No. 576,081. Patented Jan. 26, 1897.

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(No Model.) 2.Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. W. BRIGGS 8a D. E. BOSWELL.

' PHONOGRAPH.

No. 576,081. Patented Jan. 26, 1897.

l *DI THE MORRIS PETERS CQ. PMOTOLITHOY, WASHINQIDN. D. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVIS IV. BRIGGS AND DANIEL E. BOSVELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID BRIGGS ASSIGNOR TO SAID BOSWELL.

PHONOGRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,081, dated January 26, 1897'.

Application tlltd September 2l, 1895. Serial No. 563,177. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it' may concern:

Beit known that we, LEWIS IV. BRIGGS and DANIEL E. BoswELL, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Phonographs, (Case Xo. 1,) of which the :following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to a phonograph, and more particularly to the mechanism for moving the phonograph cylinder and the diaphragm relatively, our object being to simplify and cheapen the construction of the mechanism, and, furthermore, to provide a construction wherein the wax cylinder may be more readily placed in position and removed than has been possible in constructions heretofore employed.

A further object is to provide mechanism for releasing the traveling parts from the drivin g-screw and for raising the phonograph-needle from engagement with the wax cylinder when it is desired to move the parts bacl; to their initial positions after the operat-ion of the phonograph.

In phonographs as usually constructed heretofore the wax cylinder has been mounted to rotate, while the diaphragm carrying the needle adapted to engage the surface of the wanv cylinder has been mounted upon a carriage adapted to be moved forward by means of a rotating screw. It is usual to rotate the cylinder one hundred times while the needle is traveling through a distance of an inch along the cylinder, and for this purpose it has been customary to provide a rotating screw having one hundred threads to the inch for imparting the desired movement to the diaphragmneedle.

In the phonograph of our invention the diaphragm-needle is mounted stationarily, while the phonograph-cylinder is adapted to be moved longitudinally, the cylinder being mounted upon a carriage adapted to be advanced by means of a rotating screw. Upon the end of the shaft carrying the screw is provided a gear-wheel which meshes with a pinion carried upon the shaft of the cylinder, the ratio of the gear-wheels as preferably employed being four to one, whereby the cylinder makes four revolutions to each revolution of the screw. The screw may thus be provided with twenty-five threads to the inch to secure the same results as have been secured with a screw having one hundred threads to the inch, as in constructions heretofore employed, that is, as thus constructed a relative movement of one inch between the cyl- 6o inder and the diaphragm-needle results while the cylinder is rotating one hundred times. IVe are thus enabled to greatly cheapen the cost of the phonograph, since the cost of an accmately-threaded screw with one hundred threads to the inch is quite expensive, while a screw with but twenty-five threads to the inch can be made of the necessary accuracy quite cheaply.

The phonograph-cylinder is made hollow 7o and is adapted to be clamped between two face-plates carried upon the traveling carriage, whereby the cylinder may be readily placed in position or removed.

A lever is provided upon the traveling car- 7 5 riage carrying the wax cylinder, which, when rocked, is adapted to disengage the carriage from the driving-screw and to lift the diaphragm-needle out of engagement with the surface of the cylinder, whereby the parts 8o may be moved to their initial positions after the operation of the phonograph.

IVe have illustrated our invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- 8 5 Figure l is a view in elevation, partially in section, of the phonograph embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the means for fastening in position one of the 9o adjustable standards carried upon the traveling carriage. Fig. 4 is a detail of the parallel rod-movement employed for raising the arm that carries the needle. Fig, 5 is a plain view of the phonograph.

Like letters refer to like parts in the several figures.

The threaded shaft la is mounted to rotate in bearings a a', carried upon the frame of the machine, and a driving-wheel a2 is mounted Ico upon the screw-shaft a, whereby the shaft may be rotated. Upon the end of the shaft a is mounted a gear-wheel Z), meshing with the pinion b, carried upon the shaft e, journaled at one end in a bearing c2, carried upon the frame of the machine, and at the other end journaled in a bearing CZ', carried upon the traveling carriage (Z. The carriage CZ is mounted upon ways (Z8 CZ, the way CZS being V-shaped and moving in engagement with the V-shaped groove or channel provided on the carriage, the right line travel of the carriage being thus insured. The way (Z9 has a plane surface and is not V-shaped, the necessity of accurately alining the two ways being thus avoided. Upon the carriage CZ is carried a half-nut e, adapted to engage the shaft a to move the carriage longitudinally as the shaft rotates. The half-nut e is carried upon a shank e', moving longitudinally within a bearing provided upon the carriage CZ, whereby the half-nut may be moved out of engagement with the screw-shaf t. For this purpose apin e3, carried upon the shank e', engages a slot f', provided in the lever f, pivoted at f2 to the carriage, the rocking of the lcverfthus serving to raise the nut c out of engagement with the screw-shaft. The end f :i of the lever f is adapted to rest beneath a bar g, extending parallel Vto the carriage and mounted upon links g g2, pivoted to the side of the carriage. W'hen t-he lever f is rocked and the end f3 thereof raised, the bar gis engaged and moved upward into engagement with the extension ZZ, carried upon the arm ZL, pivoted at h2 and carrying upon its end the phonograph-diaphragm. rlhe rocking of the lever f thus rocks the arm 7L upon its pivot and moves the needle carried upon the diaphragm out of engagement with the wax cylinder. The single leverf thus serves to disengage the slidin g carriage from the drivingscrew and to move the needle out of engagement with the cylinder, whereby the carriage may be returned to its initial position.

Upon the shaft c and rotating within the standard CZ is a sleeve Zt, splined to the shaft c by means of a pin ZJ", engaging the slot c in the shaft c. The sleeve thus rota-tes with the shaft, while the sleeve may movelongitudinall y relatively to the shaft. Upon the sleeve Zt' is carried the face-plate Zt', between which and a similar face-plate Z the wax cylinder m is adapted to be held. The face-plate Z' is carried upon a plunger Z, adapted to move within a bore provided in the standard (Z2 carried upon the carriage (Z. The plunger Z is limited in longitudinal movement by pin The plunger Z has a cone bearing against a piston ZG, pressed outward by a spring Z4, to thus impart to the face-.plate Z a yielding outward movement to maintain the wax cylinder rmly in position between the two face-plates.

The standard (Z2 carries a horizontal extension (Z3, adapted to move in a slot provided in the carriage. A screw cZ', provided with a handle (Z5, passes through the extension (Z3 and engages a threaded hole provided` in the block CZ, which when the handle CZ" is swung upon its pivot is clamped against the under face of the carriage to lock the standard d2 in an adjusted position.

The wax cylinder m is made hollow, and its ends rest upon the cylindrical extensions k2 Z2 of the face-plates, the ends of the cylinder being beveled and adapted to be engaged by the projections 71:3 7e3 Z3 Z3, provided upon the face-plates.

'When it is desired to place the cylinder in position, the handle (Z5 is swung to unlock the standard CZ?, after which the standard may be moved .to the right to permit the placing of the wax cylinder in position between the two face-plates. The standard CZ2 may be then moved to the left and clamped in position to thus secure the wax cylinder in position between the face-plates.

The face-plates are preferably cut away at several points, as shown in Fig. 2, to permit the insertion of the finger to grasp the interior of the wax cylinder as the same is being placed in position. As the shaft o rotates the carriage CZ is moved to the left, the end of the shaft c projecting into the interior of the wax cylinder as the carriage advances.

When, as constructed in practice, the screw is provided with twenty-inte threads to the inch, the carriage moves to the left through the distance of an inch while the cylinder is rotating one hundred times, and the same result is thus produced as results from the constructions heretofore employed, wherein a screw having one hundred threads to the inch was employed.

Instead of providing twenty-five threads to the inch it is evident that any other number may be provided, and any preferred ratio between the gear-wheels Z) and Zz' may be adopted, but we find the relations above mentioned to give very desirable results.

Vhen the phonograph-cylinder has moved to the left to its extreme position, the lever f may be rocked to release the carriage from the driving-screw and to move the diaphragmneedle out of engagement with the wax cylinder, and the carriage may then be moved by hand back to its initial position.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a phonograph, the combination with a traveling carriage, of ways whereon the said carriage rests permitting the movement thereof only in a plane parallel with the aXis 0f the phonograph, a phonograph-cylinder rotatably mounted upon the said carriage,a nontraveling diaphragm -needle engaging said cylinder, a dri ving-shaft for rotating the cylinder, a threaded shaft or screw, meshing gearwheels connecting the said driving-shaft and screw adapted to rotate the latter at a lower rate of speed, a threaded nut or other part carried upon the traveling carriage normally engaging the said screw and imparting to the said carriage a lateral movement directly proportional to the rat-c of rotation `of the said IOO IIC

576,081 w l v e phonograph cylinder, substantially as described.

2. In a phonograph, the combination with a traveling carriage, of a hollow phonographcylinder mounted thereon, a non-traveling diaphragm-n eedle en gaging said phonographcylinder, a driving-shaf t for rotating said cylinder having one end journaled in a stationary bearing and the other end movable lon gitudinally in a bearing carried upon said carriage, the end of said shaft projecting into the interior of said hollow cylinder as the carriage advances, a threaded shaft or screw mounted in stationary bearings, reducinggears between said driving-shaft and said screw to cause the shaft to rota-te at a higher rate than the screw, a nut or part carried upon the carriage and engaging said screw to propel the carriage as the screw rotates, and means for moving the diaphragm-needle out ot' engagement with the cylinder and for movingthe nut out of engagement with the screw; Isubstantially as described.

3. In a phonograph, thc combination with a carriage, of a pair of face-plates mounted upon said carriage, a phonograph cylinder adapted to be held between said plates, a drivin g-scrcw for moving said carriage and a driving-shaft splined to one of said face-plates and geared to said driving screw, substantially as described.

i. In a phonograph, the combination with a traveling carriage, of a pair of `face-plates journaled to rotate in standards carried upon said carriage, one of said tace-plates being yieldingly pressed toward the other, a phonograph-cylinder adapted to be held between said plates, a rotating screw for driving said carriage, and a driving-shaft geared to said driving-screw and splined to one of said faceplates; substantially as described.

5. In aphonograph, the combination with a traveling carriage, ot' a pair of face-plates journaled in standards carried upon said carriage, one of said standards being ad justabiy movable toward and from the other phonograph-cylinder adapted to be held between said plates, a rotating screw for driving said carriage, and a driving-shaft geared to said screw and splined to one of said face-plates;

substantially as described.

6. In a phonograph, the combination lvith a traveling carriage, of a phonograph-cylinder adapted to bc supported thereby, a driving-screw, a nut carried upon the carriage 'I and adapted to engage said driving-screw, a

` lever ad apted when rocked to disengage said nut from said driving-screw, and means operated by the rocking of said lever for raising the diaphragm-needle from engagement with the phon@graph-cylinder; as described.

7. In a phonograph, the combination with i the carriage d of the driving-screw a, the nut i e carried upon said carriage and adapted to l engage said screw, pivotcd lever f connected with said nut e, pivoted arm 71, carrying thc substantially phonograph-diaphragin, and the bar g linked to the carriage and adapted when raised by the end of the pivoted lever f to engage and rock the arm 7i to move the diaphragm-needle out of engagement with the phonographi cylinder; substantially as described. 8. In a phonograph, the combination with the carriage d, carrying the standards d' d2, g of the surface-plate Z' mounted in said standard cl2 and having a yielding longitudinal f movement therein, said standard d2 being adjustably movable toward and from the stand- 1 ard d, the face-plate 7o' mounted in the standard d', the shaft c splined to said tace-plate 7c', driving-screw a and gears I) b' connecting screw L and shaft c.

9. In a phonograph, the combination with two face-plates between which the hollow phonograph-cylinder is adapted to be held, of openings in one or both of said face-plates to permit the insertion of the finger to facilitate the placing of the phonograph-cylinder in position; substantially as described.

In witness whereof we hereunto subscribe our names this 14th day of September, A. D. Y 1895.

LEVIS IV. BRIGGS. DANIEL E. BOSIYELL.

IVitiiesses:

GEORGE P. BARTON, JOHN W. SINCLAIR. 

